The Leading Edge

Events

Tuesday, Feb. 19

Songwriters in the Round — Hosted by Bob Santelli. All are welcome. 7 p.m., Bexell Hall Lounge.

Wednesday, Feb. 20

“Negroes with Guns” Film Screening and Discussion — In celebration of Black History Month, the Oregon State Peace Studies Program will host the film “Negroes with Guns: Robert Williams and Black Power.” Robert and Mabel Williams were civil rights activists who advocated that Black Americans arm themselves in self-defense against white racists.  The film discusses how they developed their ideas about self-defense and the tensions that arose between their ideals and those of other nonviolent groups, such as those led by Martin Luther King, Jr., within the Civil Rights Movement. A discussion will follow. Pizza will be provided. 6 p.m., Milam Hall, Room 319.

SAC Presents American Strings — This time, the concert series features singer/songwriter Jesse Colin Young at 7:30 p.m. at the Majestic Theatre. Tickets and information available at http://majestic.org

Thursday, Feb. 21

The Collapse of Nuclear Disarmament and Nonproliferation — Join us for an informal round-table panel discussion from various points of view, followed by a Q&A with the audience. 4 p.m., Bexell Hall, Room 207.

Race in America Series — Session two of three. Professors Stacey Smith (History) and Robert Thompson (Ethnic Studies) will discuss the history and historical memory of the Underground Railroad in preparation for Colson Whitehead’s visit to Campus April 1 to discuss his novel “The Underground Railroad” and receive the Stone Award. 5-6:30 p.m., Lonnie B. Harris Black Cultural Center. The final session will take place March 7, 6-7:30 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 22

Music à la Carte — Carson Keeble and the OSU Trombone Choir, 12 p.m., MU Lounge. 

Sunday, Feb. 24

The Corvallis-OSU Symphony — The symphony will perform Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” and feature student soloist competition winners. 3 p.m. at the LaSells Stewart Center. Tickets and information at http://cosusymphony.org.

Upcoming Events

Coastal Heritage and Cultural Resilience Book Launch — Join CLA faculty Lisa Price, Peter Betjemann, Anita Guerrini, Ana Spalding, Flaxen Conway and Lori Cramer for a celebration of “Coastal Heritage and Cultural Resilience,” which explores the knowledge, work and life of Pacific coastal populations from the Pacific Northwest to Panama. The book’s authors are particularly interested in how local knowledge interfaces with science, conservation, policy and artistic expression. All six faculty members are contributors to the book, and Lisa Price co-edited. Each will give a five-minute lightning presentation of their chapter. Monday, Feb. 25, MU Journey Room 3-4:30.

OSU Wind Symphony — The symphony will perform their winter concert on Monday, February 25 at 7:30 p.m. in the LaSells Stewart Center. Tickets and information at http://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/SACevents

White Nationalism, the Academy and the Nation — A interview and conversation with author and Pulitzer Prize winner Eli Saslow. Saslow is a regular contributor to “The Washington Post,” and most recently authored “Rising Out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist.” Dr. Eliza Young Barstow will be conducting the interview, and she is seeking to generate interview questions that represent the interests and concerns of theOSU and Corvallis community. If you would like to pose a question, please do so here. February, 28, 4:30 p.m. LaSells Stewart Center, C & E Auditorium. 

Current Research, Publications and Creative Activity

SWLF Distinguished Professor Emeritus David Robinson has published an essay on Henry David Thoreau, “Walking the Mythical Path: Thoreau’s Old Marlboro Road” in “Narratives of Place in Literature and Film,” edited by Steven Allen and Kirsten Møllegaard (Routledge 2019). Robinson’s bibliographical article on Thoreau also recently appeared in “Oxford Bibliographies in Environmental Science,” an online publication of Oxford University Press.

Anthropology graduate teaching assistants Rebecca Renee Buell, Samuel Burns, Zhuo Chen, Lisa Grabinsky, Argenis Hurtado Moreno, Katherine Stanton, Froggi VanRiper, and Loren White have published a piece titled “Decanonizing Anthropology. Reworking the History of Social Theory for 21st Century Anthropology: A Syllabus Project” in the web-journal, “Footnotes. (Multimodal, Anticolonial, Iconoclastic).”

Assistant Professor of Photography Kerry Skarbakka, currently has a solo exhibit of new work at the Torrance Art Museum in Los Angeles. “White Noise” opened Jan. 19 and runs through March 9.

Instructor of Art Katherine Spinella has an exhibition, “Subext Index,” at Umpqua Community College Art Gallery. The gallery is located at 1140 Umpqua College Road in Roseburg. The exhibition runs Feb. 7 – March 14 and features painting, prints and sculptures by Spinella and James Halverson. Their process-based works explore themes of language and the environment. Spinella is also involved in <SCRIPT>, an experimental art platform for artists mining the digital landscape. It exists as a conversation series, publication and exhibition. Spinella is part of the conversations that started in February leading up to the exhibition with a publication forthcoming in June. More info here.

Andrew Beck, theatre, is a member of Bag & Baggage’s resident acting company. He is currently finishing up back-to-back shows at Oregon Contemporary Theatre, as Jake in “The Understudy” and as Mr. Darcy in “Miss Bennett: Christmas at Pemberly.”

Professor of Art Julie Green has two upcoming shows. The first, At the Table: Kitchen As Home, runs through March 1 at the Sun Valley Center for the Arts in Sun Valley, Idaho. Green also presented an artist talk at the SVCA gallery on Feb 7. The second,  The Power of Place: KU Alumni Artists, runs Feb. 16 – June 30 at the Spencer Museum of Art in Lawrence, Kansas. Green will attend the Feb. 20 opening and join artists talks on Feb 21. She was was also featured in “Rolling Stone” in January. 

Coordinator of contemporary music and research Dana Reason gave a workshop and performance at Willamette University on February 10 with the Re:Soundings Trio. The ensemble is dedicated to programmatic diversity and is committed to exploring fresh and evocative 21^st century music. The trio features Reason as composer and pianist, oboist Catherine Lee, and composer and flutist John Savage. 

Instructor of guitar Cameron O’Connor presented two duo recitals with James Bishop-Edwards (former head of guitar at Southern Oregon University) at Umpqua Community College and at the Guitar Society Winter Concert Series at the Corvallis Library. Included in the program were the premiere of a work by Jason Heald and O’Connor’s own original compositions. 

Instructor of music Ryan Biesack performed with his jazz trio BMW: Biesack Mutschler Willis on February 7 at Bombs Away Café and on February 8 at the Two Towns Cider House. The performances featured original compositions by Biesack and others. 

Instructor of music Kimary Fick was awarded a Margaret E. and Thomas R. Meehan Oregon State University Honors College Course Development Grant for her honors course proposal “Classical Music Live in Portland.” The course  will create an experiential learning opportunity for honors students to attend live classical music performances during an immersive arts and music weekend in Portland. 

Assistant professor of music technology Jason Fick co-authored an interdisciplinary article with OSU professors Chris Sanchez (psychology), Rafaele De Amicis (Computer Science) and Mariapaola Riggio (Forestry). The article, “Living Lab @ Peavy Hall: Cross-reality environments in smart buildings to advance STEM cyberlearning” is published in International Journal on Interactive Design and Manufacturing (2019).

Recurring Events